The present invention relates to the field of cooking and specifically to cooking vessels which are used on top of a stove or some other heat source. Generally, pots and other cooking vessels are used on top of a stove while preparing a meal. Depending on the type of procedure followed by the cook, a lid may be used or placed on top of the pot or other cooking vessel to contain the heat within the vessel. The procedure followed when preparing a meal using a pot is varied from person to person; some people prefer to add the water or food item that is to be prepared to the pot or cooking vessel before applying heat, while others prefer to turn the heat on prior to the addition of water or the food that is to be prepared. When a pot is heated without any water or food in it the heat that would have normally transferred itself to the food remains in the pot; greatly increasing the temperature of the pot. When a lid is left on a pot that is being heated in this manner, the heat that is transferred to the knob is significantly higher than that which would have been transferred had there been food in the pot. As a result, knobs which protrude through the lid of the pot are subject to a great deal of heat. This creates a problem when the protruding portion of the knob is made of a material that does not stand up to heat well; many common moldable plastics are such materials.
The present invention is designed to protect such a protrusion of a knob through the lid of a pot from excessive heat by means of a heat resistant cap. A number of devices are known to the inventor which cover the base of a knob that protrudes through a lid of a cooking utensil or the panel of a drawer. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 302,929 (Musgrove) in which a metal cap is used to strengthen a wooden knob and to allow it to be soldered on to a metal pan lid or U.S. Pat. No. 1,601,160 (Busch) which shows a knob with a cap, the purpose of the cap being to prevent rotation and distortion of knobs used in connection with handles on the exteriors or doors, panels or drawers. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,682 (Allen), in which a large metal cup on the underside of the cover of a cooking vessel is shown, the purpose of the cup being not to protect the knob but to condense the steam before it escapes from the pot through openings in the lid, thereby controlling the rate of vapor escape; a similar structure is shown in the same patent, but that structure is attached to the top side of the pan lid and functions to protect the cook or user from the steam which is escaping through openings in the pan lid. None of the structures shown are designed to protect the knob and help it retain its shape because the knob is entirely outside the pan lid. The same is true of many of the other structures described in the prior art and known to the inventor. None of the prior art caps and back plates known to the inventor are arranged to protect a knob that has a portion of its structure exposed on the underside of the lid of a cooking vessel from the heat which builds up inside the vessel when it is used.
Other related references known to the inventor include U.S. Pat. No. 1,629,773 (Bossung), U.S. Pat. No. 2,002,466 (Belden), U.S. Pat. No. 2,092,932 (Rosenthal), U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,567 (Nelson), U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,395 (Fry), U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,406 (Freiman), U.S. Pat. No 3,174,178 (La Branche, et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,252,404 (Cox).